Eddie Murray
Eddie Clarence Murray (born February 24, 1956 in Los Angeles, California) is a former Major League Baseball first baseman who was known as one of the most reliable and productive hitters of his era, earning the nickname "Steady Eddie". Murray is regarded as one of the best switch hitters ever to play the game. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003. High school career Murray attended Locke High School in Los Angeles, California, where he batted .500 as a senior and was a teammate of Ozzie Smith. Major League Baseball Career Murray was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 3rd round of the 1973 amateur draft and had several successful seasons in the minor leagues. He debuted at the major league level on April 7, 1977 and played in 160 games for the Orioles in his first season. He won the American League Rookie of the Year award by batting .283, hitting 27 home runs and contributing 88 RBI. Murray did not suffer the sophomore jinx, instead building on his successes. With the Orioles from 1977 until 1988, Murray averaged 28 home runs and 99 RBI and was a perennial candidate for the MVP award, twice finishing second in the voting. The Orioles also appeared in the post-season twice, in 1979 and 1983, and won the World Series in 1983. Murray's close knit friendship with fellow Oriole Cal Ripken Jr. was highly publicized in Baltimore at the time. Murray was traded on December 4, 1988 to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Juan Bell, Brian Holton and Ken Howell and had three successful seasons with the Dodgers, knocking in 88, 95 and 96 runs. In 1990, Murray led the Major Leagues in hitting, but failed to win the National League batting crown, when Willie McGee was traded from the National League Saint Louis Cardinals to the American League Oakland A's. McGee won the National League title with a .335 average, but hit only .274 the rest of the season in Oakland. His season average was .324, 6 points lower than Murray's Major League leading .330 average. Prior to the 1992 season, Murray signed a two-year deal with the New York Mets, for whom he played well despite playing for one of the worst teams in the major leagues. In 1993 he again drove in 100 runs, this time for the final time in his career. From 1994 to 1997, Murray played for several teams, including the Cleveland Indians (1994–96), the Baltimore Orioles (1996), the Anaheim Angels (1997) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (1997). Although he no longer possessed the presence at the plate he had had in the 1980s, he was a valued and still consistent contributor for these teams. On September 6, 1996, he hit his 500th career home run—fittingly, the home run came as a member of the Orioles, and also came exactly one year to the day that Ripken had broken Lou Gehrig's streak of 2,130 consecutive games played. He retired after the 1997 season with 504 home runs, ranking him second among switch-hitters behind Mickey Mantle's 536. Accomplishments *8-time All-Star (1978, 1981–86, 1991) *American League Rookie of the Year (1977) *American League Gold Glove Award winner (1982, 1983, 1984) *Finished second in American League MVP voting (1982, 1983) *Finished fourth in American League MVP voting (1984) *Finished fifth in American League MVP voting (1981) *Finished fifth in American League MVP voting (1985) *Finished fifth in National League MVP voting (1990) *Finished 6th in American League MVP voting (1980) *Finished 8th in American League MVP voting (1978) *504 career home runs (19th all-time) and 1917 RBIs (8th all-time) *1917 RBIs rank him first among switch-hitters all-time *Led the Major Leagues in hitting in 1990 (.330) despite not winning the NL title *Holds the career record for most sacrifice flies (128) *His season high for home runs, 33, is the lowest of any player with over 500 career home runs *One of only five players to have both 3,000 career hits and 500 home runs (others are Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Rafael Palmeiro, and Albert Pujols). * Number (33) retired by the Orioles in 1998. *Hit 19 grand slams (third all-time, behind Lou Gehrig's 23 and Manny Ramirez's 20) *In 1999, he ranked Number 77 on The Sporting News list of Baseball's Greatest Players, and was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. * Named the fifth best first baseman in Major League history in the New Bill James Historical Abstract. *Hit home runs from both sides of the plate in the same game 11 times, an all-time record. *His 222 Intentional Walks ranks 6th all time. *Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame (2003) See also * 500 home run club * Top 500 home run hitters of all time * 3000 hit club * 3000-500 Club External links *Baseball Reference *Baseball Hall of Fame Biography Category:1956 births Category:American League All-Stars Category:National League All-Stars Category:3000 hit club Category:Baseball Rookies of the Year Category:500 home run club Category:American League home run champions Category:American League RBI champions Category:African American baseball players Category:Anaheim Angels players Category:Baltimore Orioles players Category:Baseball Hall of Fame Category:Cleveland Indians players Category:Los Angeles Dodgers players Category:Major league first basemen Category:New York Mets players Category:Gold Glove Award winners Category:Major league players from CaliforniaCategory:Living people